A couple of questions for docs out of residency...

[Ed Bob]

I'm an MS3 and I'll apologize in advance for a asking a couple of anoying questions. I did a search but didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I love the medicine in the emergency room but had a couple of concerns about the schedule.

1) How many night shifts do you work each month on average right now?
If you work 8s, are 1/3 of all shifts nights, or does there tend to be a greater need for EPs during the day (and thus a higher percentage of day shifts)?

2) Do you find the irregular schedule (weekends, random days, etc) makes it hard to coordinate things and pend time with you spouse and family (who will likely be at school/work during the week and off on the weekend)?

Thank you

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Jeff698]

I work 12 twelves a month, half are day, half are night.

Yes, these shifts make it difficult to coordinate things. On the other hand, did I mention I work only 12 days a month?

Take care,
Jeff

 

[deleted65604]

All ERs have an incredible ebb and flow that is rather hard to schedule for. However, most ERs have a peak patient flow from 2 PM to 10 PM, therefore, there tends to be more coverage during those hours. Patient check-ins bottom out at 2-6 in the morning, with minimal overlap at that time.

In single coverage ERs like my own, patient flow doesn't affect staffing (we make up for it by having mid-levels during peak check in times.) In ginormous ERs, the staffing has much more overlap during peak times, so your shifts will probably include more late-day/evening/swing shifts. Some large places that are desirable to work at have a couple of dedicated night docs that take a large part of the burden of night shifts away from everyone else.

I have 12 12 hour shifts per month. Day shifts are light at the beginning and incredibly busy at the end (leading to a requisite chart build-up right before time to get off shift). Night shifts are really busy to start off with, but rewarded by the 2-7 lull where I can catch up on charts and walk out at 5 minutes after my shift is over.